THE STYLE AND MEANING OF THE LAST SOVIET POLITICAL "CONTROVERSY" (Based on the Speeches of Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin in 1984-1990)

Abstract

The stylistic features of the polemical genre, in contrast to the genres of fiction, have not been sufficiently studied, which is why there is a need to determine the linguistic means by which a greater result can be achieved in polemics. If we consider that the purpose of any polemical speech is to manipulate public opinion (albeit in a positive aspect), the study of the features of the language of polemics acquires not only theoretical, but also practical significance. For the study, the controversy between M.S. Gorbachev and B.N. Yeltsin speeches, which have received a wide audience and  executed in the most skillful way, is considered. The work highlights the stylistic figures that determine the nature of the controversy, and can be effective for those  interested in the stylistics of speech.